Santa Catarina (Brasil) wins R$ 280 million technology centre for the Oil and Gas sector

CETEMO joins the Robotics Technology Centre (CTRob) and Laser Technology Centre (CTLaser), which are also the result of a partnership between the SENAI Innovation Institutes of Joinville and Petrobras. The agreements were signed in 2023 and the implementation of the two centres should begin in 2024, with more than R$ 70 million in investments. These two structures will be focused on the technological evolution in laser additive maintenance and assistive industrial robotics in the oil and gas sector. In recent years, SENAI's Innovation Institutes in Joinville and Florianópolis have developed a series of equipment, among which are robots for painting offshore platforms (which increases work safety and reduces costs) and cleaning pre-salt pipelines (also aiming at reducing costs).

The president of FIESC, Mario Cezar de Aguiar, says that the new structure brings a series of opportunities for the expansion of national competitiveness in the oil and gas sector and for the development of the metalworking chain in the region. "Brazil is starting to incorporate a technology that it has not yet mastered and, immediately, Santa Catarina will receive a subsidiary of Panterra, a Norwegian industry specialized in this segment," he explains. "In addition, the new centre will promote the development of a national and regional supply chain," adds Aguiar, recalling that, within a radius of 100 kilometres from Joinville, there are at least a dozen industries that can absorb the supply of high value-added parts to Petrobras and other companies in the sector. Located in the city of Arendal, in southern Norway, Panterra is already a supplier to Petrobras and was a partner of SENAI in the preparation of the CETEMO project.

Technology development and professional training

"The business model to be adopted at CETEMO provides for the manufacture of complex parts and components, but its emphasis will continue on SENAI's core activities: development of new technologies, which is the focus of innovation institutes, in addition to professional education," says the regional director of SENAI/SC, Fabrizio Machado Pereira. "While Panterra will bring competence already in use by the industry, we will develop – in partnership with Panterra, new designs of components and systems that can be incorporated by the partner itself and other licensed companies," he adds.

An example of what can be manufactured at CETEMO are the connectors for pre-salt pipelines. These devices weigh and dimension on the order of 10 tons and are more than 40 inches in diameter. They are produced with duplex and superduplex steel alloys. "When they are disconnected from the pipelines, it is necessary to ensure zero leakage, that is, not a single drop of oil can fall into the ocean", explains the Chief Researcher of the SENAI Innovation Institutes of Joinville, Luís Gonzaga Trabasso. This means that, in addition to their large size and weight, the connectors require extremely advanced technology. "By stimulating domestic manufacturing, Petrobras has the gain in the shortest downtime of the platforms in case of damaged or worn parts", says the Executive Manager of Innovation and Technology of SENAI/SC, Mauricio Cappra Pauletti.

Even Panterra will expand its production scope, since CETEMO will manufacture items that, in the country of origin, it imports from England, Italy and Spain.

Neo-industrialization

"CETEMO is a characteristic case of neo-industrialization in the country", highlights the president of FIESC. The final schedule for the installation of the new centre, as well as the final budget, will be finalized in the next stages of negotiation with Petrobras. "The machines will be manufactured specifically for CETEMO by suppliers from countries such as Germany and Japan," says Aguiar.

According to Petrobras' Applied Technologies manager, Vinicius de França Machado, the expected results are "the research and development of new mechanical solutions, the construction and testing of prototypes of new technologies and the performance of failure analysis of damaged equipment in search of improvements". Also part of the scope of the initiative is the qualification and training of professionals and researchers in the area "to develop the national industry of manufacturing and machining equipment with the cutting-edge technologies of the current world scenario". Finally, the public notice provided that, "although all the costs of the design and construction are financed, it is essential that the centre of excellence is able to enable and carry out new developments and work with the industry using the immeasurable potential of all its specialized infrastructure".

Strengthened shipbuilding industry

Among the possible customers of the new centre is the Santa Catarina shipbuilding industry, whose hub is Itajaí, where the construction of four Tamandaré Class frigates, of high technological complexity, for the Brazilian Navy is underway. Budgeted at R$ 9 billion, the project has already started the assembly of the second unit and, during its execution, should generate 2 thousand jobs and 6 thousand indirect jobs. They will be versatile and modern maritime escorts with high combat, surveillance and reaction capabilities. The expectation is that the rate of nationalization of the components will be above 30% for the first ship and 40% for the others.

"The construction of these four frigates will strengthen the Santa Catarina shipbuilding industry and the presence of a centre in the CETEMO standard should further enhance this segment", comments Aguiar. "The frigates project has the purpose of raising local content rates and promoting technology transfer in the naval segment; just like CETEMO in relation to the extraction of oil from the pre-salt", adds the president of FIESC.

Innovation for the oil and gas industry

"The Robotics Technology Centre will consist of a new physical structure and equipment and is focused on the development of robots for the sector, especially for tests and simulations of off-shore and on-shore technologies," Pauletti explains. Between it's labs, CT Rob will have a tank for endurance testing of submerged items.

The Laser Technology Centre, in turn, foresees the acquisition, among other equipment, of a CT scanner from the German company Zeiss, and the certification with the Norwegian institute DNV (Det Norske Veritas), a world reference in the safety of marine structures and installations.